Kelly McParland: Drunk on Trudeau, Liberals prepare to forget reform and hand him the keys

Drunk on Justin Trudeau, Liberals prepare to hand him the keys

Sorry to be the one who has to deliver the news folks, but the Liberal party has fallen off the wagon.

This is a party that woke up the morning after elections in 2006, 2008 and 2011 with ugly headaches and a deep sense of regret, spent the day on the couch gobbling hangover remedies and swore that never … ever… would it make the same mistake. Oh Lord. Did we seriously do that … with Stephane Dion? … oh my God. And Michael Ignatieff too? How will we ever live it down? Take me now, please take me now.

Here’s the curious thing about the political trajectory of one Justin Trudeau, the airhead, rich boy, socialite and bon vivant – not a member of the middle class, you know – who has all but locked up the Liberal leadership, and whom polls consistently show is the best-liked politician in Canada: He keeps doing this. How can that be, since he’s so dumb?

In recent days Trudeau’s nearest rival has ostensibly dropped the gloves, tackling Trudeau head on. MP Marc Garneau, no slouch in the substance department (let’s face it, only one Canadian has more substance than Garneau, and he’s in orbit now crafting songs for the Barenaked Ladies) called out the frontrunner in blunt terms for being all sizzle, no steak. “He has told Canadians that we need a ‘bold’ plan and a ‘clear vision’ without defining either,” said Garneau last week. “On Justin’s two clear priorities, the middle class and youth engagement, he has said nothing.”

They took the cure. Elected new party officials and swore up and down the country to stay away from the quick fixes and devote themselves to a slow, solid rebuilding of Liberalism, on a firm basis of beliefs rather than flash and a pretty face. They would dig deep and establish what Liberalism was all about, establish real principles and policies that weren’t simply about winning votes.

Then came Justin, an once again the party is dancing around with a lampshade on its head. On Saturday in Mississauga, the third of three desultory leadership “debates”, you could almost hear the champagne corks popping and the scotch swilling in the tumblers. The formal coronation won’t take place for two more months, but if you were in any doubt that Liberals have thrown themselves at a new saviour, just watch the two key moments in the event, when Marc Garneau inquires what qualifications a rich kid from Montreal has to run the country, and, later, when Martha Hall Findlay drives home the same point with more gusto.

Garneau, who has the experience and track record Trudeau so notably lacks, was so overwhelmingly polite in posing his query that he resembled an Entertainment TV reporter deferentially lobbing a softball to the superstar of the moment. Trudeau had been given days to prepare his answer, as everyone knew what Garneau was going to say, but didn’t have to respond in any detail because the ridiculous format of the “debate” cut off the microphone after less than three minutes of discussion.

More telling was the audience response when Hall Findlay dared to called out Trudeau for confessing he isn’t middle class, and has an inheritance worth $1.2 million and a healthy income from public speaking. “I find it a little challenging to understand how you would understand the challenges facing [middle class] Canadians,” she said.

Fair enough, and hardly the stuff of Tory attack ads. But you’d have thought she was Oscar Pistorius from the anger that swept over the crowd, which booed her loudly and let it be known that challenging their Justin was simply not on. The blowback was so fierce Hall Findlay felt the need to apologize the next day “to Justin, his family and to those who were offended,” insisting she’d meant nothing personal. Meanwhile, Trudeau seized the to defend himself with vigor, solemnly declaring — to loud applause — his undying intention to devote himself to the good of all Canadians, middle class or otherwise. If you missed it, don’t worry: you’ll no doubt have plenty of chance to see it in Liberal ads during the next election campaign.

Michael Ignatieff must be gnashing his teeth

So, barring some self-induced catastrophe, he’s going to be the leader. Liberals don’t care if they don’t know any of the specifics of his thinking. Garneau was right: Trudeau has delivered little more than a few vague homilies on his thinking, including devotion to “equality of opportunity, a positive approach to freedom, a grounding in science and evidence, and a commitment to embrace Canada’s diversity as a driver of strength and unity.” But no real meat.

Responding to Garneau’s challenge, earlier in the week, to take a position on something substantial, Trudeau’s team unveiled an education plan just hours before the debate. It consists of a pledge to make education a priority, to try and raise the participation rate for post-secondary education, and to look for ways to mitigate the heavy debts some students face when the graduate. He stole that last idea directly from Garneau, but without the greater detail Garneau has offered. Instead, he suggests “the remainder of this campaign, and the two years that follow, should be about examining the effectiveness and affordability of these ideas, and many others.”

Maybe it doesn’t matter that Trudeau has little practical experience and offers few specifics. Before he became party leader, Stephen Harper hadn’t spent a lot of time in the real world either.

Michael Ignatieff must be gnashing his teeth. He spent much of his leadership relentlessly touring the country in search of input and ideas, and here’s Trudeau — who has a few years teaching high school versus Ignatieff’s career at Oxford and Harvard — blowing it all off with some puffy promise to do something about education, details to follow later?

At this point it doesn’t really matter what the rest of us think of this, because the Liberal party is too drunk on Justin to care. Maybe it doesn’t matter that he has little practical experience and offers few specifics. Before he became party leader, Stephen Harper hadn’t spent a lot of time in the real world either. He did offer a more specific program, but has ignored or reversed himself on so much of it since coming to power that it’s hardly anything to brag about.

But Harper had to fight his way to the leadership over an extended period, as, to a lesser extent, did Thomas Mulcair. Trudeau is being handed the reins on his first try but a party that can’t wait to make him the boss. If Liberals think he’s so fragile he can’t handle a mild reproof from Martha Hall Findlay, what’s going to happen when he comes up against Harper and Mulcair in a real debate?

We’re about to find out. If the Liberals have made the wrong choice again, they may wish they’d put more effort into their rehab.